Briana Jeter: IIP Berlin Blog 8

The firm that I am interning for this summer conducts business in the legal tech industry. While the company is based in Berlin, the majority of their customers are based in the Unites States and the United Kingdom, though they are capable of receiving and pursuing cases in 9 other countries. Working in this field requires the company to not only focus heavily on new technological advances but also changes in the legal spheres in the countries in which they operate. The keys that affects the IT/Tech industry, mostly driven by software, mobile and cloud computing technologies, is privacy and data security. For companies that are rather large or companies that are new, like the firm I work with, that compete heavily with other companies, it is very important to conceal and protect your technology and processes, since it is those exact things that provide you with your competitive advantage within the technological arena. The problem that many technical companies face is that although technology continues to advance and improve, the laws and regulations for security and data protection grow increasingly out of date. It has become important for lawmakers to go to work in order to ensure that there are new, applicable privacy regulations. While technology is very important to firms in this industry, they must also stay up to date on the legal aspect of their legal tech industry. The firm intern with deals with copyright and intellectual property law in 11 different countries. It is important for them to stay be aware of the laws of each country in relation to copyright and their legal team must be aware of the nuances of each country as they process cases. As different cases play out in the media, new precedence are set and new laws are put into place, so the law team must constantly be aware of these changes and take those into consideration when conferring with clients and opposing counsel.